Cardinal Foley remembered throughout Delco, world

Whether it was the Chester Times as a youth, a perfectly timed one-liner to a friend, or the Christmas message from the Vatican to millions, Cardinal John Patrick Foley knew the value of a good delivery.

Foley, a Delaware County native who rose to become one of the princes of the Roman Catholic Church, died at 3:15 a.m. Sunday at Villa St. Joseph in Darby, a residence for retired Archdiocesan priests. He was 76.

Foley left this life about 100 yards from the where he was delivered into it: He was born at Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital on Nov. 11, 1935, which sits next to Villa St. Joseph.

He had been suffering from leukemia, anemia and other conditions.

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"I was deeply saddened to learn of the death of Cardinal John Foley," said Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, Archdiocese of Philadelphia, in a statement issued from Rome. "Cardinal Foley was a man of great apostolic energy. Anyone who met him was immediately aware of his intense love for the church and his zeal for communicating the Gospel. By the sheer force of his personality, he drew people to the faith and to himself. I was pleased that he was able to come home during the final months of his life. No matter where he lived or how he served the church over the years, he always considered Philadelphia his home."

And more specifically, Foley considered the Holy Spirit Parish in Sharon Hill home.

"Twice after he made cardinal, he came back for a special Mass," said the Rev. Martin Woodeshick, the pastor at Holy Spirit. "He would refer to me as his pastor. He would say, 'Oh, there is my pastor.' He always considered this his parish."

Foley was the only child of the late John Edward and Regina Vogt Foley and was a 1949 graduate of Holy Spirit Grade School, which closed in 2003, in Sharon Hill. He had resigned his Vatican post in February as pro grand master of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, overseeing churches in the Holy Land, and moved to Villa St. Joseph.

Foley served as Pope John Paul II's chief spokesman from 1984 until the pontiff's death in 2005. While being fluent in Italian, French, Spanish, he also had been the voice of the Vatican, providing English commentary heard by millions of Roman Catholics worldwide for Christmas and Easter Masses up until 2009. He had served in his last position for Pope Benedict XVI until Feb. 10.

While Foley rose from being a Chester Times delivery boy to become a key person in the Vatican, it was probably not something he sought, but likely felt compelled to do when asked.

"I don't know if that was necessarily his goal in life," the Rev. Woodeshick said. "But when it came his way he accepted it. He was ready to do whatever God had in mind for him."

By all accounts, Foley was not a seeker of attention, but one who wanted to give attention to others. One way he accomplished that was being the editor-in-chief of The Catholic Standard & Times from 1970 to 1984.

The Rev. Msgr. George A. Majoros, who has been at Our Lady of Fatima in Secane since 2008, knew Foley as a teacher and a fellow priest. He was a student at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary where Foley taught philosophy from 1967 to 1984.

"He was truly an astute and learned man," Majoros said. "He wanted to impart that knowledge to his students with great diligence. Later, he was a great help to parish priests by making sure the print media he worked on was usable and workable for priests and readable for the average Catholic in the pew."

But it was apparent to many that Foley didn't do his work to try and be average. And that was especially true when priests from the Philadelphia archdiocese visited Rome while he was working there.

"In 2004, we were together for the 25th anniversary of me being a priest," Majoros said of a trip to Vatican City. "He arranged for a Mass at the altar of the Clementine Chapel for us. It was a special privilege to have Mass at that altar because the remains of St. Peter, the first pope, are on the other side of it. (Foley) always felt the connection with us. He always felt he was a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia."

He also had the gift of making people feel at ease. Two Philadelphia area men who spent a lot of time with Foley over the years were Msgr. Hans Brouwer, who was Foley's secretary in Rome and is now at the St. Katharine of Siena Rectory in Wayne, and Bob Sims, of Wayne, who had been friends with the cardinal since their high school days at St. Joseph's Prep.

They noticed that as time passed and many things in the world changed, Foley's attitudes toward others did not.

"He loved to be with people," Sims said. "I have a picture of him on the floor with babies and I have one of him in a Cadillac convertible with sunglasses on. He could adapt to any place with anyone."

Foley's enjoyment of people was evident even in his final days.

"Friday afternoon, I was sitting with him and two guests came in to see him," Brouwer said. "He just loved to be with people."

And that also showed in his sensitivity to their needs. Sims told a story of Foley being on a flight and sitting next to a man who was contemplating suicide. The man's wife was a flight attendant on that plane, so Foley counseled them in a small private room.

"When you use the expression 24/7, that was him," Brouwer said. "Twenty-four hours, seven days a week he worked."

But he also spent time laughing, sometimes at himself, and making others laugh.

"He was extremely gregarious," Sims said. "He was great with people."

And that was apparently true in his final months at Villa St. Joseph.

"He had a wonderful sense of humor," said the Rev. Msgr. William Dombrow, the rector at Villa St. Joseph. "He shared many of the stories with the priests here of the experiences he had in life."

In the final few weeks, those who were around him said Foley understood his life was coming to a close, and that was especially true last week.

"I sat with him last Thursday and he knew he was dying," Sims said. "We talked about everything."

Foley talked to the Daily Times on the occasion of what turned out to be his final birthday - on 11/11/11.

"As Andy Rooney said, 'I certainly have nothing to complain about,'" he said. "It's been marvelous and I pray that I may have the strength needed for the rest of my time here on Earth to try to continue to do some good for others."

Foley's last official good act came Wednesday, when he blessed the chapel on the fourth floor across from his room at Villa St. Joseph.

"We had our fourth-floor chapel restored," Dombrow said. "He told me that was going to be the final function he performed. He was very much in tune with that and God's will for him. He was very grateful I had asked him to rebless that chapel."

Dombrow said Foley was also glad to spend his final days in Delaware County.

"He was very happy here at the Villa," Dombrow said. "He was very much loved by the residents and staff. He was a very humble man."

Dombrow was one of those with Foley when he died.

"He had a beautiful attitude," he said. "He was ready to meet the Lord. He told me that."

While funeral arrangements were still pending late Sunday afternoon, Brouwers and Sims said the service will be a true celebration.

"It's a great life to celebrate," Sims said. "All of us that have known him will be celebrating his life. There will be a lot of people there."